CASTRO VALLEY — Each of the three candidates for the 15th Congressional District brought something different to the table during their first joint appearance Tuesday night.

Freshman Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin, said he brings the young, bipartisan leadership he has offered in his first term. State Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, said she brings 20 years of “battle tested” leadership in local and state office. And Alameda County GOP vice chairman Hugh Bussell of Livermore said he brings a distinctly different point of view than the two Democrats.

The three took questions for an hour before a crowd of about 150 at a forum organized by the League of Women Voters of the Eden Area, with nary a personal dig to be heard — much unlike this district’s forum two years ago, when then-Rep. Pete Stark unleashed considerable vitriol against challenger Swalwell.

The only good-natured barb came right at the end. “Does Washington need more lawyers?” asked Bussell, a software content developer, gesturing at the two attorneys with whom he shared the dais.

Corbett said she’s running in part “to bring civility back to the process,” and said serving as the state Senate’s majority leader has taught her the value of working across the aisle. Bussell said he prefers real discussion to demagoguery, although sometimes legislative gridlock is the natural result of heartfelt disagreement.

Swalwell quipped that he has “been working with Republicans since I first learned to walk — I was raised by two Republicans … and if I wanted dessert passed at the dinner table, I had to work across the aisle.” On a more serious note, he said he helped convene a bipartisan “United Solutions Caucus” of freshmen that met constantly during last year’s government shutdown.

All three candidates said they support strict regulation of hydraulic fracturing — “fracking” — for oil and gas, to protect the environment; all called for comprehensive immigration reform, though Bussell didn’t specify whether that includes a path to citizenship for people already here. And all spoke in favor of preserving privacy and civil liberties against intrusion by government surveillance.

Swalwell and Corbett said they support making the wealthiest Americans pay their “fair share of taxes” while Bussell said the budget passed by House Republicans last week was the subject of more rhetoric than substantial analysis.

Swalwell noted he has flown home from Washington, D.C., almost every weekend since taking office, holding 13 town halls — more than any other Bay Area House member — and going to work in constituents’ jobs to learn about their lives. Corbett said as an officeholder in the area for 20 years, she has “a good sense of how people are thinking” and would remain firmly in touch. Bussell said he has lived in Hayward and Livermore for decades and “I’ll be here talking to you every chance I get.”

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